Hear me Roar - English version

CHAPTER 38 - '"The Lone Wolf Dies."

               I'm entering the Great Sept of Baelor. This building, more than a hundred years old, was built, as its name suggests, by Baelor the Blessed. He was the most pious king Westeros ever knew. Putting religion before everything else, he even forgot his obligations to his people.

               And here we are, the descendants of the lords who kissed his feet. We serve a Lannister king, and all the Targaryen are dead. The world has changed.

               Lord Varys, a few steps behind me, surprises me in ecstasy at this masterpiece of architecture. He shows his presence only by a small laugh in which I perceive nothing mocking. I imagine him on the contrary rather inclined to get lost in front of works of art.

"Are you ready, Majesty?" he asks.

"It's not my marriage" I answer by turning to him. "I'm not the one who needs to be ready."

"Don't play with me..."

               His little smile is enough to make me lower my guard. Like two great confidants, we begin to walk the room with one step.

"Do you know..." I start. "I sometimes wonder what my father would have done in this situation."

"And what would he have done?"

"Absolutely nothing."

               We stop above the stairs leading to the altar. From here, we have a bird's eye view of all the guests.

"When Cersei asked to kill Sansa's wolf, he killed it himself. He said that the beast deserved a fair death because it came from the North. However, it is now rotting under the earth."

"Your father was unfailingly loyal."

"But, you see, every time I ask myself this question, I am very quickly caught up by an undeniable truth: my father is dead. I am not. My choices are mine."

"I urge you not to attempt any rebellion today, ma'am. You may lose it."

               I'm not stupid enough to start a fight in the middle of a Sept. I may not believe in the Faith of the Seven, but I prefer to avoid the anger of the people who love it so much.

              As I prepare to change the subject, my husband's blond head appears down the stairs. With his golden crown, he is very elegant. If he stopped wearing that smirk, maybe he would be attractive.

"Ma'am" he says in the tone of the reprimand. "You can't be there."

"Lord Varys."

               The Spider lowers his head slightly before leaving. I join Joffrey and take his arm.

"Don't get mad" I whisper before I kiss his cheek. "It's a joyous day, right?" 

"You're right, it's a big day for your sister."

"I wanted to ask you something about that."

"I'm listening."

"Well..." I start, suddenly panicking. "I would like to drive my sister to her future husband."

"No way. Your father is dead, Sansa belongs to the Crown. It's up to me to drive her."

               Little surprised by his reaction, I do my best not to get upset. If I raise the tone, it's not only my day that will go wrong but that of all the guests. That of Sansa perhaps more than all the others because Joffrey will not hesitate to take revenge on her, he has already done so.

               So, for all the residents of the Red Keep, I decide to play the comedy a little more.

"That's natural, Majesty. No one will dare contradict you. Except, you see, Sansa and I have been away from home for a very long time. I just want her to feel safe."